I have debated whether or not to post this article. Should I offer a downloadable version of my tactics, just for people to generally ignore why they work in a specific way and complain to yours truly about their perceived lack of progress or success? Ultimately, there is no right or wrong way to approach things with FM. If you’re getting more success from downloadable tactics and that feels fulfilling enough, then crack on. This article links to the latest formation of my “Riders (on the storm)” series of tactics, using both a deep and middle block in defence.
Table of Contents
The formation
If you care about the mechanics behind the selected roles, I recommend you read this article. If you don’t care, look at the pretty picture below. It gives you every tidbit of information you need regarding the formation and roles I have selected.
There are some individual instructions. The article I linked to in the previous paragraph describes which instructions I used on which players and my reasoning for doing so.
Low block vs middle block
In my save-game, I tend to alternate between a low block and a middle block. There is no high-block tactic because it can’t be done with formations that don’t have a striker. I cannot get my attacking midfielders to push that high up the pitch.
The picture above showcases the very minor difficulties between the low-block and middle-block versions of the game.
Do you use OI’s?
Short answer; generally not. There are a few specific situations where I do, but that is generally to eliminate an opposing playmaker or dangerous forward. These situations are so specifically tailored to my team, that I feel it is a waste of everyone’s time if I go into further detail in here.
TLDR; Downloads!
Guido is the founding father of Strikerless and main nutjob running the show.
3 Comments
Loisvale · January 26, 2023 at 9:34 pm
Great stuff. Always love your stuff. It’s so different and love the thinking in the previous article. Have enjoyed using my own 443 with great success but it is vanilla and this is very tempting to try for a total change. Are there any special attributes you seek for particular roles – it seems to me that the halfback, for instance, is particularly important. Do you just use the in game filters? Anyway, thanks for sharing. Keep posting – your stuff is great
Mark Rennolds · January 26, 2023 at 11:40 pm
I’ve not played the game for a few years now but glad to see my Terrier Spirit articles live on.
Maybe you should send me a free download of the game mate? 😉
Joey Numbaz · February 5, 2023 at 7:54 pm
Just curious – the instructions in the (very cool) slide image differ from the downloads – though I dumped them into FM22. The downloads have:
regroup/counter, instead of counter press/counter
pressing more often vs. much more often
force opposition outside vs. standard defensive width
no time wasting in the downloads vs. sometimes
Any thoughts on when you change these, what you’ve found works better, etc. would be great to hear!
Regarding posting downloads or not, I like seeing the download for all of the details which helps to see how the creator thinks of all the little details that don’t get mentioned in articles. It helps learning, almost like an appendix to the article.
If other people want to be lazy and just run with the tactic not knowing how it works, I just think whatever floats their boat, people enjoy the game differently, and maybe that gets them past the initial learning curve, and eventually they start playing around more and creating their own tactics someday.